With only a few weeks until the start of Eleksyon 2022, President Rodrigo Duterte declared his neutrality in the presidential election on Thursday.

At a meeting with national and regional task groups to end the local armed conflict in Lapu-Lapu City, Duterte stated that he was not supporting any candidate for president.

I am not supporting any presidential candidate. Neutral ako (I am neutral),” Duterte stated.

“I am not campaigning  for any particular candidate,” he stressed.

On the eve of the start of the 2022 election campaign, President Rodrigo Duterte stated that he is not supporting any presidential candidate “at this time.”

“I may [support one] in the end if my advice and endorsement would help — if needed. Bt at this time, I am saying I am not supporting anybody — unless there is a compelling reason really for me to change my mind and decide to support a candidate,” Duterte stated, speaking in a mix of English and Filipino.

“We are fighting a war that has been going on for the past 53 years, and we do not want to exacerbate the situation by electing a president who would compromise the interest of the government,” he also stated.

Duterte made the remark just days after a group of the ruling PDP-Laban supported former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the standard bearer of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, for president.

Rodrigo Roa Duterte KGCR, popularly known as Digong, Rody, and by the initials PRRD, is the 16th and current President of the Philippines. He is the head of the Philippines’ dominant political party, the PDP–Laban.

He passed the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, which established free college education in all state universities and colleges across the country, as well as the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law (TRAIN Law), which reduced personal income taxes while increasing consumption taxes on non-essential goods.